Malta International Airport registers €30 million profit on back of record tourist year

Malta International Airport saw its profits fly to €30 million in 2018 on the back of a bumper year for tourist arrivals.

Profits were up by €6 million on the previous year, according to the financial statements approved by the board of directors on Wednesday.

Group revenues for the year were €92.2 million, up from €82.4 million in 2017.

Aviation revenues, which grew by 11.1% to total €65.5 million, were largely attributable to an increase of 13.2% in traffic, which reached a new all-time high of 6.8 million passenger movements.

With an increase of 14.1%, the company’s non-aviation activities raked in €26.7 million.

MIA said a positive trend was registered across most of the revenue streams within the retail and property portfolio, with particularly noteworthy contributions from the airport’s retail outlets and SkyParks Business Centre.

Within this portfolio, the company’s VIP products registered the biggest increase over 2017 (+36.3%).

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of the group increased from €48.6 million to €54.4 million.

The directors recommended the payment of a final net dividend of 9c per share (gross 13c8).

The company’s annual general meeting will be held on Wednesday 15 May.